INTRODUCTION According to the MPOWER approach adopted in 2008 by the WHO, monitoring smoking epidemics is necessary in order to assess the effectiveness of the preventive measures used in smoking control in adolescents and adults. OBJECTIVES To determine the prevalence of smoking in Portuguese school-aged adolescents by region. MATERIAL AND METHODS The sample is made up of 8764 students, 40...

Thrombocytopenia is a critical problem that occurs in many hematologic diseases, as well as after cancer therapy and radiation exposure. Platelet transfusion is the most commonly used therapy but has limitations of alloimmunization, availability, and expense. Thus, the development of safe, small, molecules to enhance platelet production would be advantageous for the treatment of thrombocytopeni...

A 20089 nucleotide (nt) sequence was determined for the 5' end of the (+)-ssRNA genome of gill-associated virus (GAV), a yellow head-like virus infecting Penaeus monodon prawns. Clones were generated from a approximately 22 kb dsRNA purified from lymphoid organ total RNA of GAV-infected prawns. The region contains a single gene comprising two long overlapping open reading frames, ORF1a and ORF1...

Subject of research: the article studies effect continuous ion beams Ar++Zr+ and N++Ti+ compositions, with energy E = 20 keV radiation dose D 5⸱1017 ion/cm2, on change in morphology, microhardness wear resistance during finishing turning processing metal-cutting plates made tungsten-free hard alloy grade KNT16 (TiCN-Ni-Mo).
 The purpose study: development technological modes ion-beam aimed...

Important lessons should be drawn from two recently published randomised clinical trials comparing rhythm control and rate control strategies directed at the management of chronic atrial fibrillation in representative patient populations. In the larger Atrial Fibrillation Follow-up Investigation of Rhythm Management (AFFIRM) trial, 4060 patients were followed up for an average of 3.5 years, the...

Zervakis, G. I. & Venturella, G.: Adverse effects of human activities on the diversity of macrofungi in forest ecosystems. — Bocconea 21: 77-84. 2007. — ISSN 1120-4060. A rapid decrease in the size and composition of macromycetes populations has been observed in various regions of Europe. Such changes have been mainly attributed (directly or indirectly) to human interference, and most notably t...

Plasticized poly(lactic acid) PLA with epoxidized vegetable oils (EVO) were prepared using a melt blending method to improve the ductility of PLA. The plasticization of the PLA with EVO lowers the Tg as well as cold-crystallization temperature. The tensile properties demonstrated that the addition of EVO to PLA led to an increase of elongation at break, but a decrease of tensile modulus. Plasti...

SUMMARY RATIONALE People with asthma may have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and metabolic disorders due to the direct involvement of common inflammatory mediators in the pathogenesis of CVD and insulin resistance. The aim of this study was to determine whether asthma was associated with an increased prevalence of CVD/stroke, and diabetes in a cross-sectional population st...